Improved whitewash-brush



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES LOUGHRIDGE, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVED WHlTEWASH-BRUSH.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 38,051, dated March 31,1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Loue-BRIDGE, of Pittsburg, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Whitewash-Brushes; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, inwhich- Figure 1 is a perspective representation of the metallic frame orstock for holding the bristles forming the brush. Fig. 2 is arepresentation of the socket for receiving the handle of the brush. Fig.3 is a representation of the cap-piece, which ts into the upper side ofthe metallicl bristle-frame. Fig. 4 represents a nished brushconstructed with my improvements. Fig. 5 is a brace for strengtheningthe metallic frame or stock.

In the several figures like letters of reference denote similar parts.

My improvement is applicable especially to brushes which are long andnarrow, and in which it is important to have the bristles placed asclose together as possible, such as are ordinarily used for whitewashing and similar purposes.

In round brushessuch as are ordinarily used for painting-the bristlesare placed close together, but their form enables them to be readilysecured by binding them with cord tightly round the handle, or by a wireferrule. This is done by placing the bristles within the wire ferrule,previously prepared for that purpose, and then tightening them byforcing the tapered handle into place through the bristles in theferrule. No such method of securing the bristles can be adopted in themanufacture of long, narrow brushes, whichare ordinarily made either bytying the bristles in small bunches, ranged side by side on either sideof a wedge-shaped piece of wood orstock, to which they are fastened bysewing them to the stock with cord passed through holes bored in thestock for that purpose, or the bristles are placed around the stockwithout being tied in bundles, and secured in place by nailing a stripof leather around the stock over the butt-end of the bristles. Both ofthese methods, however, cause a separation of the bristles on eitherside of the stock, which is very injurious to the operation of thebrush, as it makes the brush leak-that is, the white wash runs down thebristles and collects in the space between them, near the stock, in suchquantity as to cause it to run out. Another and serious objection towhitewashbrushes where the bristles are either sewed to the stock ornailed on with a leather band is that the bristles swell with themoisture when used, and the cord and leather, being both yielding whenwet, allow of this expansion, but when the brush is dried again thebristles are foundto be loose, and will come out, rendering the brushuseless. In order to 0b- -viate these difficulties, I place the bristlesside by side and close together in a long, narrow frame made ofsheet-iron or other suitable material, braced by thin strips of the samematerial, which prevent the springing or opening of the frame withoutmaterially separating the bristles in the several compartments formed bythese partitions.

Fig. 1 represents the metallic frame which composes the stock of thebrush. It is made of two strips, a a, of sheet-iron or other suitablematerial, turned up at either end at right angles, so as to form the endof the brush. The ends b b thus turned up are lapped over each other andriveted together at c, forming a hollow frustum of a long, narrow wedge,as

the sides are not placed parallel in their depth or width, although theyare parallel in their length. As a frame or stock made of thin sheetmetal of the shape described would be apt to open, so as to allow thebristles to fall out, it is strengthened and the sides confined by anumber of braces, d, of the shape shown in Fig. 5, being that of across-section of the frame, but not so deep. These braces d d are madeof thin metal, so as to separate the bristles as little as possible.Each end of the braces d d is turned up at right angles, as shown inFig. 5, so that when the braces are placed in the framethe ends areparallel to the sides of the frame, to which they are fastened byrivets, as seen at e e, &c., Fig. 4. Thus these braces d d, being placedin the frame at short distances apart, form a number of compartments,narrower at the bottom than at the top, owing to the converging of thesides of the frame, as before described, and as seen in Fig. l. Thebutts of the bristles being first saturated with cement, they areinserted into the frame, made as described, a suiiicient quantity beingput into each compartment to iill each as full as possible. The bristlesare put in with their points downward from the upper or wider part ofthe frame, and are pulled downward, the greater thickness of thebutt-end of the bristles and the cement on them preventing their passingthe narrower, contracted part of the i'rame. When the cement dries, thebristles are iirmly secured in their place; but to make them perfectlytight a little melted cement is poured over the ends of the bristles inthe frame. This cement may be that ordinarily used for fastening .thebristles in brushes. As the braces d al do not extend up to the top orupper end'of the frame, there is a space left for the insertion of thecap-piece f, which is a strip of wood, long and narrow, and which fitsinto the top of the frame. The shape of this cap-piecefis shown in Fig.3. It is fastened in place in the frame by a few screws or nails, s s,&c,., (see Fig. 4,) screwed through the sdes a a of the frame, near itsupper edge.

A brush thus constructed can be made very cheaply, the bristles are'much more firmly secured than by the old plan, and not being s\parateddown the center by the stock nor tied in separate bundles, the brush ismuch better for use.

AOn the cap-piece f of the brush, midway use a socket of peculiarconstruction. (Shown in Fi g. 2.) In addition to the cylinder g, whichis at right angles to its base or iange h., I attach to the cylinder ganother cylinder, 7c,

at an acute angle-say about forty-five degrees-which opens into theupright cylinder g. These two cylinders g and 7c and the iiange h areall cast in one piece. 'Ihe use of this double socket is obvious. Thehandle of the brush may be inserted in either at pleasure, and may beconveniently removed from one to the other.

In order the more easily to secure thehan dle, a screw-thread may becast or cut in the `inside of the sockets g and lc, so that thehansocket for the handle of brushes, consisting of two or more shortcylinders cast in one piece, substantially as described.

I n testimony whereof I, the said JAMES LOUGHRIDGE, have hereunto set myhand.

JAMES LOUGHRIDGE. Witnesses:

M. G. CUsHiNG, A.S. NIoHoLsoN.

